UA's IT system must be like a house of cards and they're afraid to touch it for the danger of the whole thing crashing to the ground

The hard part, for me, is knowing what is "safe" to talk about that they won't change because they're afraid.

I must say, having booked two NW mistake fares in the last week, that their web site is a quantum leap in functionality beyond UA's, but not nearly as much fun. Booking and servicing a reservation on UA is like pulling a handle on a Vegas slot machine. You just never know what's going to come up

Pat